What's wrong with me?
by hopeistheway
Summary: There's something wrong with Danny. He feels terrible, but he won't admit it. Because if his suspicions are correct, they will need to preform surgery to help him, and then they will see him for what he really is... And the operation could turn deadly.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey everyone.**_

_**Yeah, so, tuberculosis is fatal.**_

_**…**_

_**Screw it.**_

_**I'm rewriting all my stories.**_

_**And that's about it.**_

"Soon, I will have your pelt on my wall. It will go nicely with my werewolf decor!"

"Could you get any weirder?" asked Danny, as he avoided a well-aimed ecto-blast from one of Skulker's many cannons.

Said ghost responded with a wicked grin. "Yes."

Danny frowned as he charged up an ecto-blast. "You know, I actually don't doubt that." And with that, he hit Skulker squarely in the chest.

With an _oomph_ Skulker was thrown into the wall of the mayors office, leaving a large hole behind.

Quickly taking out his thermos, Danny prepared to suck the dazed ghost in- and suddenly doubled over in pain. With a gasp he looked in shock at his abdomen. One second, he was fine, the next… A large stab of pain. It had hurt like someone had just cracked a rib… in his stomach. _Weird…_

_Speaking of weird…_ Turning quickly, he saw to his dismay Skulker was gone. But as he turned, the sharp pain returned, and he dropped like a stone to the ground, which was only a few feet below him. He tried to get up, but the pain in his stomach hurt too much, so he lay down and panted heavily. Eventually, the pain faded- but a new one came out of the mayor's office door- Vlad Masters, aka Plasmius- his arch enemy. Danny slowly floated off the ground, not wanting the pain to return. He glared daggers at the mayor before charging another ecto-blast.

"What do you want, Masters?" He growled out.

"Why, nothing, dear boy- except for you to renounce your father, marry your mother, and have you become my son." Vlad smirked. "But for now... I would like you to, if you would be so kind... as to _NOT BLAST HOLES IN MY OFFICE!"_

"Uh, how about _no, no, no_, and _tough luck_- _Agh_!" With a strangled cry, Danny suddenly found himself on the ground again, clutching his abdomen as he bit on his tongue.

"Daniel? What is it?" Vlad asked, concern leaking into his tone.

Vlad was suddenly right in front of him, supporting his head.

_When did he get there? Ugh, it doesn't matter,_ thought Danny, _But I need to get away!_

He tried to roll away, but gasped out in pain and immediately retracted, curling up in a ball. This only caused more discomfort, so he eventually closed his eyes tight, as he lay eagle-spread.

_Breathe, Fenton,_ he chanted in his mind. _Breathing is good. It keeps you alive. So breathe._

He ignored Vlad's questions until he shook him, which was a rather large mistake. Crying out again, Danny scurried back, moaning, desperately to rid himself of the pain. He was suddenly aware that he turned into his human-half, because the pain somewhat intensified.

It was a rather pitiful sight.

And just as agonizingly quickly it came, the pain left. The entire episode lasted in the span of eight seconds.

Danny opened his eyes and suddenly found out that he could breathe again. Panting heavily, he looked up at Vlad who was staring at him with worried eyes, but once he saw Danny meet his gaze, his mask slipped back on.

But Danny saw. He scowled at the man."You're such a Frootloop.".

Vlad immediately scowled (Danny shrunk in on himself. Erm, maybe that wasn't the best thing to say while he was in human form and Vlad was right on top of him) and with a quick flick of the hand, slapped Danny in the face. Clutching his burning cheek, Danny stared at Vlad with wide eyes. "Did- you- you just-!" Danny cried out, looking positively scandalized, "You- you_ slapped_ me! What the heck was that for?" He asked angrily.

"That little episode just risked our secret! You transformed in broad daylight! You better thank your lucky stars no one saw that!" To prove his point, Vlad gestured to the empty parking lot and offices in the building. "Never act so ridiculous again! What was going on in your head?"

"Geez, Vlad. Complain to the cat, not me." Danny grumbled, pointing to the lone kitten in the Mayor's office, watching the scene through the glass windows with interest.

Vlad's face was curled into something so sinisterly angry Danny nearly squeaked in fear.

_Oops. Um. Note to self; never, ever piss off Vlad when he's this close._

With a growl of annoyance only a ghost (or half-ghost) could muster, he dusted off his shirt before pulling himself and Danny up with his arm.

Danny grudgingly accepted (not like he had much of a choice; the man hid a ton of muscles under his suit) and then frowned. His and Vlad's relationship was really, _really_ weird.

"Wait- you thought I was acting?" Danny suddenly asked, backtracking.

Vlad paused, regarding the boy. "You're many things, but you are not a good actor," he noted. "But you're good enough to fool some."

"Good enough to fool you!" Danny seethed, before adding, "... but I wasn't acting!"

"Quite." Vlad said dully, looking dismissive as he walked back to his office. "Oh, and clean up your mess on the way out." He added with a red eyed glare.

Danny looked behind him and saw a Skulker sized hole on the building that led directly in the mayor's office. "How?" He asked, not really processing the question.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Now, get to it!" Vlad said with a smirk as he closed the door.

Inside his office Vlad watched silently through the hole, smirking, as Danny stared back at him, baffled, before frowning and turning away. He saw Danny lightly finger his abdomen before transforming and flying away.

_Curious._

With a frown, Vlad turned away from his window and opened up his computer before slowly typing in the date and proceeded to type the following:

_December 2nd_

_Subject: Daniel_

_It is... possible... that Daniel experienced some sort of seizure. Reasons are unknown, but it isn't ghost-related. Neither one of our ghost-senses went off. We were at my office in Amity Park. The time was around eleven-thirty. The pain seemed to be emitting from his stomach, but mainly the lower abdomen. It is possible, though unlikely, that one of his father's inventions had a dangerous effect on him._

_Another possibility: I was shot in the head only during the accident. Daniel received a full-body treatment. The ghost-DNA might have become too much for his changing body, and he is slowly decaying from the core out- a case known to happen to ghosts as they become too powerful for their bodies to handle. It is somewhat like when a star dies: They explode from the inside out._

_… However, this is highly unlikely, considering the core is located in the upper-abdomen, and his pain seemed to come from the lower._

_It is also possible this is human related, and he has caught some disease of the sort. I will further sample his DNA to see the cause. Next file due: December 3rd._

**_Yeah, so not much editing in this chapter. But, I fixed it up a little, so that's good. I guess._**

_***sighs***_

_**well, see you all in the reviews, hopefully.**_

_**hopeistheway**_


	2. Chapter 2

Danny cracked opened his eyes and slowly sat up.

_Bathroom._

With a yawn, he stretched himself awake, left the comfort of his cozy blue bed, and proceeded to head towards the bathroom.

After the fight with Skulker (and run-in with Vlad) Danny for once found himself having a blissfully ghost-free day. He supposed Boxy was busy.

So, he had done what any rational teenager would do in his situation. He went straight home, ignored his homework, and went to sleep.

Life was good.

Danny ran his hands along the walls, blearily trying to find his way, when suddenly his clumsiness kicked in. With an "oomph," he tripped over his feet and fell to the floor. Then suddenly, the rush of pain he experienced before came back. He hissed and rolled to his back. The pain lingered, but it eventually faded. Once again, it only lasted for a couple of seconds.

"This is starting to get on my nerves," he moaned, feeling irritated.

With a groan, he sat up and finally found the place of relief. It had been in front of him.

He tiredly thought, _Stupid._

He slowly stood up and opened the door before opening the toilet seat (his mother had taught him the hard way what happened if he left it down due to laziness).

He immediately noticed with a painful grimace that his urination burned. After flushing and washing his hands, he left the room and proceeded down the hallway. He gingerly took each step, afraid to upset his stomach.

What the heck was going on? He had no idea, but he was afraid that whatever the problem was, it would affect his ghost fighting...

"_Gasp!_ … Oh, crud." He moaned, before searching for the ghost…

A throwing knife suddenly whistled past his ear, landing on his sister's bedroom door. Danny snapped his head around and saw none other than Skulker. "What do you want, Skulker?" He growled out, balling his hands into fists.

The ghost robot looked at him funny before answering, "Honestly, do you even have to ask by now?" Skulker sighed, as though he was extremely offended. "'Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter' ring a bell? Besides, my employer needed me to complete a task for him, and you just so happened to be it." Another knife sailed towards the halfa, who dodged ungracefully, holding his stomach gingerly. Two barely dodged knives later and Skulker frowned. "Come on, ghost child. Put up a fight! You're sucking the fun out of this!"

Said halfa scowled. "Sorry, but I don't fight with the unable. It's beneath me. Besides, you're acting more like a circus freak than a fighter. Leave the knife throwing to the clowns." He said with a smirk.

On the inside, he panicked.

Skulker grinned. "Oh, please. We all know the only clown here is you." And with that, what looked like a paintball gun popped out of his shoulder. He briefly took aim, and fired.

_SPLAT._

Danny dragged a hand down his goop covered face. He glanced in the hallway mirror and saw to his surprise he now looked like Freakshow. "Really? Clown makeup?" He questioned, before suddenly grinning. "Well, now that I think of it... Clowns tell jokes, and where would we all be without my jokes? "

"Paradise."

"Oh, shut up." Danny grumbled, wiping the makeup off on his sleeve. "Hey, here's an idea! Instead of fighting, let's just... chill." He grinned, eyes glowing blue.

Skulker's eyes widened, and he stumbled back. "Oh, no you don't-!"

With a thrust of his hands, Danny sent out a surge of his ice energy, where it collided with Skulker, freezing him on the spot. "Ha-ha!" He laughed quietly, before wincing. "Ow-ow!" He said a little louder, clutching his stomach.

"Geez," he said to himself, while heading back to his room to get his thermos, "It's like I'm pregnant!"

Danny stopped dead, grimacing at his words. "Never again will I think of something so disturbing." He vowed.

He grimaced and quickly walked to his bedroom and got his thermos from under his pillow. He then removed the knives that were on the walls and doors, checked to make sure that his family was still sleeping, and sucked up the frozen ghost. After his chores were done, he tiredly headed down to the lab to release the robot back into the ghost zone. He opened the portal door and after messing with a few dials, secured the thermos in and pressed the "release" button. "It was _ice_ to see you." He said with a grin. "Man… am I good at puns or what?" He chuckled to himself, before slowly going up the stairs.

No one answered. "... Yeah, I know it was lame." He sighed to himself.

He winced at each step. "Ugh," He groaned. "I don't want to walk up these stupid stairs... I wanna sleep… but…" He trailed off. "Oh, _duh_, I can fly."

Blaming lack of sleep on his sheer stupidity, he rose from the floor and tiredly levitated up to his room. Once there, he immediately sank into his bed, pulled up the covers, and shut his eyes, exhausted.

"…"

He gingerly shifted his position while his stomach gently throbbed in protest. He tried not to think about it. He wanted to sleep, anyways.

"…"

He took in a deep breath through his chest.

"..."

_One sheep... Two sheep... Three sheep... This is stupid..._

"…"

"Agh!" He moaned, before carefully getting out of bed.

"Fine. Don't sleep." He muttered to himself angrily.

He turned ghost and flew out of the house, carefully maneuvering his way around the town. "Okay, Fenton, think. So, my stomach started hurting about… yesterday. Helpful. And now it hurts whenever I touch it or even move it around! Okay, so maybe… maybe I could… maybe I have that stomach virus that's going around? Yeah! That's probably it... Yeah! I remember when Jazz had that- man, she was puking for a week!" He grinned, satisfied with his conclusion. "But…" He frowned, "I'm not puking. And... she didn't spazz out when we touched her… so… Ugh!" He seethed in frustration.

He flew on tiredly, letting his mind wander as he lazily looked at the stars. He went on like that for half an hour, recognizing constellations and planets until he couldn't fool himself any longer; he was too worried to focus.

"Okay, maybe if I go back home, I can sleep on it…" He said to himself, and hurried back to his house.

Once inside, he lay back on his bed.

"…"

"…"

_One sheep... Two sheep... Three sheep..._

"…"

"AGH!"

This was going to be a long night.

...

**_Well then. You have fun Danny._**

_**Once again, just a couple of minor *COUGHTUBERCULOSISCOUGH* changes.**_

_**Reviews inspire me to write more, and if everyone who favorited reviewed, I think I might just explode into Orange Juice.**_

_**What? You don't think I can?**_

_**Well. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.**_

_**;) You guys rock!**_

_**hopeistheway**_


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey Danny! What's- _whoa_!"

"_Dude!_ What happened? Are you okay?"

Danny grimaced and nodded before swaying and clutching his head. He had just opened his locker when Sam and Tucker walked up to him. They had immediately known something was wrong- the bags under his tired eyes and swaying said it all.

"I just feel a little dizzy." He muttered, brushing off their unease.

"Dizzy? Danny, you look like the walking dead!" Sam argued.

Danny leaned against his locker door and closed his eyes. "One... I hate that show. Two... guys… I'm just… really, really tired. I couldn't sleep last night, okay? I don't know why. I just couldn't sleep…"

His friend's worried stares softened. "Want some cocoa?" Sam offered, taking his hand away from his stomach, where he cradled it oddly- like he was protecting it.

Sam immediately thought of pregnant women, and the comparison made her knees weak.

_Okay. Um, ew._

_Anyways._

Danny seemed to turn green at the suggestion, and he immediately shook his head no. "Uh, no," he groaned, "No eating. I tried this morning… bad results."

Tucker crinkled his nose. "Well, you gotta eat _something_!"

Danny shuddered and shook his head. "Yeah, no, don't put me down for cocoa."

Sam frowned and yanked his head down to her cheek. "_Ow_! Sam, Ow! That hurts! What are you _doing_? Stop it! Ow!"

"I'm seeing if you have a fever! Now hold still!" She demanded, and rested her cheek against his forehead, ignoring the blush creeping up his face.

After a few seconds of Danny squirming, she let him go. "Danny, you definitely have a fever! We're going to the nurse's office right now!"

Tucker moaned. "Why? Why did you have to get sick?"

Sam glared at him, and he quickly covered. "I mean, uh, why did you have to get sick? You must be in some serious pain! L-let's go to the nurse!"

Danny pushed Sam away, much to her irritation. "No! I don't want to see the nurse! I told you guys, I'm _fine_! I'm seriously fine!"

_"FENTURD!"_

The trio all looked towards the noise and saw their least favorite jock headed their way, eyes trained on Danny. Sam and Tucker groaned in annoyance, but Danny's eyes, for once, flashed with fear for a moment. The football star lifted Danny by the collar of his shirt and yelled in his face, "I got a _D-_ on my science test today! You know what that means?"

Danny actually considered the question, before guessing, "You'll let me go because you didn't fail?"

"Wrong answer, wimp!" Dash yelled before pulling back a fist.

"N-no! Wait! I'm sick! I'll, uh, throw up all over you!" Danny cried, worried that the jock would hit his ginger stomach.

Dash's eyes widened. "Ew... Well, in that case…" he threw Danny roughly into his locker and slammed the door shut with a laugh.

"Danny!" The 'wimp's' friends cried, and rushed to the locker, trying to get him out.

Dash laughed again before he calmly leaned against a locker to watch the show.

"Dude! Hang on!" Tucker yelled out, trying the combo.

"Danny! Are you okay?" Sam cried as soon as the boy fell out of the locker.

Danny remained on the ground, holding his stomach. "... Yeah... uh," he rasped out, "Hold on a second..." And he attempted to not vomit on the spot.

"D-Danny?" Tucker asked, now more worried than ever.

Danny waved him off with his hand, though he clearly had no idea what direction Tucker was in. He waved nearby Sam's left shoe.

Dash frowned. "What's wrong with him?"

Sam glared. "Like he said; he sick, you idiot!"

Dash glared but did nothing. "Well, what do you want me to do about it?"

Tucker groaned. "Just leave us alone!"

Dash rolled his eyes. "Fine. Nerds." He said loudly before walking away.

Sam and Tucker turned their attention back to Danny, who, now that the nausea had passed, was trying to get up. "Sit!" Sam nearly yelled, and pushed him back to the ground.

"Ow!" He cried, wincing. "Sam,_ not_ helping!"

"Deal with it! Now tell us the truth- what's really going on?"Danny glared defiantly... and then sighed in defeat before telling them of how his stomach started hurting to the point of where he could barely move.

"Dude…" Tucker said in awe. "You need to tell your parents!"

"No!" He said, snapping his head towards his friend. "I can't or they could link it to ghosts!"

Sam frowned. "How? Was this caused by a ghost?"

Danny dragged a hand down his face. "Well... No. I mean, yes! I mean- I don't know, okay?"

Sam sighed. "Of course..." She muttered. "C'mon. Get off your butt before I make you… the least you can do is see the nurse, okay?"

Danny knew Sam wasn't taking a 'no' for an answer, so he slowly complied so as not to upset his throbbing stomach. "Alright, fine," He answered, "But if she so much as pokes me, I'm leaving."

...

"OW!"

"Well, I had to see if it hurt!" Said the nurse, pulling back her finger. "Now, don't worry, I'm pretty sure it's just a bad stomachache and a fever. Just go home and take it easy for a few days, and you should be fine."

Danny sighed and smiled. "Thanks, Nurse Sarah. So, my parents are gonna pick me up..?"

Sarah nodded. "They should be on their way now."

"Okay, thanks. I'll just go wait for them outside. Have a nice day." He said politely.

"You too, sweetie!"

Once outside, upon meeting his friends in the waiting room, Danny told his waiting friends what had happened. "She said not to worry, take it easy, and in a few days I would be fine."

"That's great, Danny. So take her advice… and stop pacing!" Sam huffed.

"I can't help it! I feel like we're missing something here- I just don't know what!"

Tucker tapped his chin. "Maybe you're pregnant."

"... Shut it, Tuck."

"Sorry. Just a thought."

"Danny," Sam interjected, "I'm serious. Just relax."

"I can't!"

"… I'll play with your hair if you do."

Danny finally stopped pacing and glanced at her. "… Fine."

He grudgingly took a seat beside her and she proceeded to stroke his hair.

"Danny, you really should stop that habit- it's girly." Tucker commented. "Kind of something a pregnant girl would want her husband to do..."

"... Shut it, Tuck."

"Sorry. Just a thought."

"I-!"

"DANNY-BOY! ARE YOU OKAY?"

Danny jolted as the new voice joined- well, interrupted- their conversation. "Dad?" He asked.

The man peeked his head through the room's doorway. "Yep! Now hurry up, get in the car! I don't want you getting any sicker!"

"Dad, I don't think-? AGH! DAD! LET GO!"

Jack flung Danny over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes and ran out the door, proclaiming, "Bye, kids!"

Danny yelled at his dad all the way to the car- not just because of his embarrassment. "Dad, that hurts! Please, just put me down!" He begged.

Okay, yeah, he was really embarrassed, too.

"Whoops! Sorry, Danny. 'Guess I don't know my own strength!" Jack chuckled apologetically. "Now just sit down, and relax, kiddo. You'll be in bed in no time!" He promised, buckling Danny in the back seat of The Fenton R.V.

Danny blushed at the action, feeling much like a toddler as his father buckled him into his booster seat. "Okay…"

"I'm driving too, so you'll be completely safe!"

"Wait- you are? I- oh, _crud!_"

Jack slammed his foot on the accelerator, and off they sped, hitting every bump in the city.

**...**

_**Once again... minor changes.**_

_**I really like dropping hints about Danny being pregnant; it's just too fun not to! X)**_

_**Review please!**_

_**hopeistheway**_


	4. Chapter 4

Vlad walked down the hallways with a strange look on his face.

He had just arrived at his private office in Wisconsin, but his thoughts were elsewhere- mainly back in Amity Park. Vlad was glad no one was around to see the deepening scowl on his face- for once, he wasn't sure if he could put on his poker face.

Why?

_Daniel._

Just the name of the boy flashing across his mind made him want to spit. The boy was just so infuriating! He couldn't have two seconds of peace and quiet when he was around! It was just plain irritating! And even when Daniel wasn't around, he always was able to weasel his way into Vlad's thoughts!

Vlad closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why did this always happen?

_… Because you love him._

Vlad startled at this thought, before sighing angrily. Of course he loved Daniel! He had Maddie's kind heart. He was noble and passionate and honest- which was everything Vlad wasn't. Vlad wanted so badly to be the fatherly figure in his life, to guide him, and teach him- but the boy was so ignorant he refused to even_ listen!_

Vlad's hands clenched in frustration, strangling the air.

And worse off, he was Jack Fenton's son! It was a _tremendous_ surprise that he hadn't inherited his father's idiocy- but sometimes Vlad has his doubts...

While he (arguably) didn't inherit his father's sheer dumb, he did inherit his rashness and determination.

As Vlad walked down the long hallway to his office, he considered banging his head against the wall.

Why?

_Daniel._

_… Life is so infuriating_, Vlad thought tiredly as he opened the door.

...

Danny bit on his lip, squeezed his eyes shut, and shook his head so much it made him dizzy. "Open!" His mother insisted while holding the saltine cracker. "You need to eat something! You said no to soup, and you promised if you didn't have that you would eat a saltine!"

Danny pushed his head back as far into the pillow as deep as it could go.

This was the one promise he was determined not to keep.

"I'll puke-!" He started to say, but the cracker being shoved into his mouth interrupted him.

Instantly his stomach churned, and he pushed his mother out of the way so hard that she stumbled and barely managed not to fall. "_Daniel James Fenton!_" She called out angrily. "Come back here _this instant_, and don't you _dare_ spit that out!"

_I won't be spitting it out…_ He thought with panic as he sprinted towards the restroom.

He practically flew in, slammed the door shut, threw open the toilet lid, and let all hell- er, vomit- lose.

It was awful.

There was silence, and then a soft knock. On the other side of the door, his mother called out in a much gentler tone, "Danny? Are you alright?"

_No! He wanted to scream…_

"_Y-yes!_" He cried out, before vomiting again. Tears ran down his cheeks as he did it again… and again…. and again…

When he was done, he felt worse than ever, and he slid against the toilet seat, not able to move or speak. It was exhausting just to breath. And his stomach…

Only his career as a hero was able to stop the sob begging to burst out.

...

Tucker tried Danny's combination again. On the fifth try, it worked, and he was able to grab his friend's books. Sam rolled her eyes before saying, "You know, you would suck as a criminal?"

Tucker didn't respond as he grabbed his friend's homework.

"... Without Danny around, you're like a mute."

Tucker shrugged and closed the locker. Sam raised an eyebrow. "He's not gonna die or anything, Tucker."

Tucker nodded before he numbly answered with a barely audible, "I know."

Sam huffed heavily before taking her friend's hand. Tucker looked up at her in surprise.

She smiled gently. "Tucker. Danny's going to be_ fine._"

Tucker swallowed before nodding. Still he couldn't stop himself from voicing his thoughts. "It's just... he sounded so sick, when he called last night to ask for the homework. Like... a dying toad." He smiled weakly.

Sam grinned before lowering her voice so as not to be overheard. "Do you really think that our friend, _Danny Phantom_, _defeater of The Ghost King, his evil future self, and every single ghost that steps foot in Amity Park_, is going to _die_ because of a simple _stomach ache_?"

"Well, when you put it like that..." Tucker laughed weakly. "No."

Sam squeezed his hand one more time before letting go. "So why worry about that... when we could be torturing him with homework?"

Tucker nodded. "You have an amazing point there, Sunshine."

Sam's eyes widened. "W-what did you call me?" she stammered out.

"You heard me. You know, Sam, I don't think even Paulina could give a sappier speech than that..."

With a wild shriek the proclaimed _ball of joy_ chased her friend all the way to Danny's house.

...

**_Joke time._**

**_Q: What do you get when you put tuberculosis in a story and claim that it's not fatal?_**

**_A: Complete and utter crap._**

**_:)_**

**_hopeistheway_**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, everyone! Lets just pretend that I didn't vanish of the face of the earth for who knows how long doing who knows what! Okay? Great! **

**... I'm really sorry for the wait. On the bright side, my writing has improved and I'm going to (attempt to) lengthen my chapters. Previous ones were sad excuses, probably around two to three pages on Word. **

**Here's a quick summary of what's happened so far; something is wrong with Danny- his abdomen hurts to the point of immobility. He hides the worse of this from his parents for fear of it being ghost-related, and doesn't want to risk exposing his secret by going to the hospital. Vlad has been keeping a close eye on Danny and notices that something isn't right. He has his own theories as to what's going on. As of now, Danny is bedridden and desperately bored.**

**So! Without further adieu, the fifth chapter!**

**I own nothing. **

It was official. This was the worst week ever.

Firstly, Danny was beginning to think that if this was what going into labour felt like, he wouldn't be surprised. After his little "episode" in the bathroom, his mother had declared him too sick to go anywhere but bed. So now, he was stuck in his room with nothing to do, and worse, unable to protect Amity from ghosts.

Second, he had homework, and if that wasn't infuriating, nothing was. It wasn't that he didn't understand it- he had the basic concepts down- it was just that it seemed so pointless. No offense to Lancer, but Grammar wasn't going to help him save lives.

The worst part of all of this was that he only had three darts left.

To cope with his boredom, Danny had been throwing darts at a picture of Vlad Masters. It was hard to do so while laying down, but it was actually (in his opinion) more fun that way. The downside was that he couldn't call for help to retrieve his other darts, for his parents would not approve of the activity, and Jazz was out at the library. Getting out of bed wasn't an option, and neither was using his powers due to all the extra ghost-detectors his parents installed in his room ("Can't have any ghosts sneak in while you're sick, Danny-boy!"). So, in conclusion, he only had three darts left, and Danny was going to have to make them count.

Danny rested his chin on his chest so he could see the picture properly. It was taped on his door, which was about twelve feet away from his bed. Yes, it was far, but he did have super powers, after all.

Several darts already decorated the picture. One, Danny's favorite so far, stuck on the billionaire's goatee. Four others made a mustache. Danny shook his hand out a couple times before plucking up a dart and flicking his wrist. Plunk. It hit Vlad's cheek, looking a bit like a rather nasty mole. Danny grinned. He picked up another, this time deciding to aim for the forehead. Plunk. It landed right on the bridge of Vlad's nose.

"Shoot." Danny muttered.

Now he only had one dart left. He reminded himself that he had to make this one count. He narrowed his eyes, gently gripping the dart between his fingers. He was pretty sure- no, he knew- this dart wuld hit right on Vlad's forehead. He flicked his wrist and let go of the dart.

The door opened.

Danny shot up with a gasp, ignoring the throb of agony in his stomach. "Watch out!"

Tucker barely managed to duck with a strangled sort of squawking noise. The dart sailed pass Sam, who had pressed herself against the wall. A crash sounded behind her not a second later.

The trio all looked at each other in shock for several moments before Sam and Tucker saw the poster of Vlad.

They promptly burst into laughter as Danny apologized. "I'm sorry!" He repeated as he gasped out in laughter. His stomach burned with each chuckle, so he quickly forced himself to calm down.

Sam and Tucker invited themselves into his room and plopped down into his bed. "We brought you presents!" Tucker sang.

Danny looked at them eagerly. "Really?"

Sam cuffed Tucker on the side of his head and snickered. "If you consider homework a present."

Danny groaned dramatically and practically threw himself onto his pillow. "Curse you."

Sam then proceeded to dig through her purple spider-shaped backpack and hand him several worksheets.

Danny grudgingly accepted. "Gee, thanks." He grumbled while his friends smirked.

There was a best of silence before Sam asked, "So, how are you feeling?"

Tucker suddenly looked serious, and Danny raised a brow at him. He considered. "Um. I'm, uh. Fine."

Tucker gave him a look that showed how he clearly doubted that. Sam raised a brow and declared, "Danny, you are the worst liar in the history of ever."

"What about Jazz?" Danny asked, outraged.

"She comes in close second." Tucker replied.

Danny glared while Tucker shrugged. "Hey, I'm just listing the facts."

"Anyways," Sam interjected, "How are you really feeling?"

Danny deflated. "I've... Been better." He admitted.

Sam and Tucker shared a worried glance. For Danny to even admit that he wasn't in top shape meant that he was feeling really bad. After a moment of eye-communication, they silently decided to chat to lighten the mood and cheer Danny up. Soon enough, the three found it easier to forget the ghost-boy was sick, and the atmosphere felt almost normal.

That was, until Danny's ghost sense went off. Danny blinked before a look of determination flitted into his face. He braced himself and began to push himself up- only to have Sam practically shove him back down.

"Uh, nice try, dude, but you're in no shape to fight. We got this." Tucker said with a grin.

"But- but-!"

"Oh, shut up, Danny. We'll be fine." Sam rolled her eyes.

She slung her bag over her shoulders as she ran out of the door with Tucker close behind. "See you later!"

Danny was once again alone. He swallowed the fear for he friends and attempted to calm himself. "It's no big deal. They can handle it." He attempted to convince himself.

He reached for a dart.

His hand closed on nothing. Confused, he looked over and saw the empty table. He quickly recalled that He had run out of darts.

"... Crud."

That night, Danny slept restlessly, mind plagued with worry. He awoke to the cold shiver and puff of air that told him a ghost was nearby. He groggily blinked and realized he was going to have to get out of bed. He mentally whined.

He braced himself and slowly pushed himself up, expecting a burst of pain- but to his surprise and relief, he didn't feel it. Was he finally getting better? He snuck over to the window, confidence building. He opened it up before he jumped out. Halfway down, he transformed and flew towards where he felt the ghost's energy signature, feeling better than he had all week.

When Danny caught up to the ghost, he discovered it was Skulker. Again. And they were over the mayor's office. Again.

He prepared a ball of ectoplasm before he called out to the hunter, "Hey! Skulker!"

Skulker's head snapped around and met Danny's gaze. "Ghost child? I thought you were sick." He frowned, confused.

Danny blinked. "Well... Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?"

Skulker sighed. "I have a code of honor, whelp."

"And...?"

Skulker slapped his forehead in exasperation. "It's unsportsman-like to hunt an injured animal!"

"Hey! I'm not an animal!"

Skulker scoffed, folding his arms. "The rule still stands. I'm not fighting you, whelp."

Danny stared at the ghost in shock. "Then why are you here?"

Skulker actually looked sheepish. He looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. Danny followed his gaze to find several toddlers huddled against against a tree, shaking in fear. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots. Danny glanced back to the hunter in disgust.

"... Skulker, that's a new level of low."

"Hey, I don't have anything better to do!" The hunter snapped back defensively.

"You know what? I don't even care. Just don't hurt anyone. I'm going back to bed."

"When you're not sick, I will have your pelt, ghost child!"

"I wait with bated breath," Danny responded sarcastically, before flying away.

Danny barely made it a half mile before freezing hands grabbed him, his head exploded with pain, and the world went dark.

When Danny awoke, he was in a dark room. To his surprise and relief, he was still in his ghost form.

Was he in the Ghost Zone?

Danny looked around... All he could see was that he was strapped down to a lab table. When he attempted to phase out, he discovered he couldn't. The cuffs that held him down were ghost-proof.

Danny started to panic. And that was when Vlad walked out of the shadows. Danny relaxed, if onto a little. At least he knew who captured him. Danny quickly opted for bravado. "Hey, Vladdycakes. How's it going?"

Vlad scowled as he approached the table. "I'm not here to play games, Daniel. I'm here to find out what's wrong with you."

Danny blinked. "Um. Okay. I'd actually like to know. As long as it doesn't involve sharp objects, I'm cool with that. And, uh, no chains, maybe?"

Vlad rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to dissect you."

"Oh, well, that's a relief. So, could you let me out?"

"No." Vlad said shortly.

Danny pouted. "C'mon, you know you want to..."

"No! I most certainly do not!"

"Aw, come on, Vlad. Would you do it for your old pal Danny?"

Vlad breathed out through his nose, visibly attempting not to lose his temper. "Cease this nonsense at once."

"Please? Look, you're making me beg! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaassse?"

Vlad stared at the younger hybrid. "... When did you stop being intimidated by me?"

"Um, duh, when you got a cat."

"... Butter balls."

Danny smirked while Vlad glared, as though he could barely tolerate the boy's existence. Vlad suddenly walked closer to Danny and the smirk faltered. "Um." Once again, Danny was reminded of his earlier resolution to not piss off Vlad when he was so close.

Vlad inspected his nail. "So, Daniel, it appears that you have a problem."

Danny rolled his eyes, forcing on a brave face. "No, really? I haven't noticed."

Vlad frowned at him. Danny gave him a cheery smile.

"I'm trying to help you." Vlad spat.

"... I think you just got some spit on me."

Vlad flicked Danny's head and the boy flinched.

"Anyways. You're going to tell me what's wrong or I'm going to make you. The problem seems to be originating from your abdomen, and you and I both know that this isn't a mere stomachache."

There was a moment or two of silence as the two met each other's gaze steadily and Danny rapidly thought of a way to distract the older man. How am I gonna get out of here? Danny bit his lip before an idea hit him. Sure, the idea wouldn't really help him, per se, but really, it couldn't hurt him, either.

"Alright, alright, fine..." Danny sighed dramatically, and closed his eyes as though pained. "I'll talk. The truth is..."

Vlad leaned forward eagerly. Danny slumped. "The truth is..." Danny said, voice cracking with emotion, "I mean- what's the point of hiding it anymore? Sooner or later, everyone will know. I just wish... I wish that, well, you didn't have to find out this way. The truth is... Vlad, I'm pregnant."

There was a beat of silence. Vlad stared at him, eyes wide, mouth slightly parted. Then Danny couldn't hold it back any longer, and he shrieked with laughter. "My- you- YOUR FACE!"

"... You are the bane of my existence."

"Aw, Vlad, don't pretend you don't love me." Danny cackled.

"You leave me no choice, Daniel." Vlad sighed, and with that, revealed a very pointy-looking object.

Danny's laughter immediately ceased. He eyed the object, beginning to sweat, as actual fear began to take its hold on him. "Erm. I thought you said no pointy objects!"

"No, I said I wouldn't dissect you. There's a difference." Vlad corrected him with an evil smirk.

Danny began to squirm, but stopped immediately when he felt his stomach, for the first time that night, throb in protest. Danny paled. Vlad noticed. He crouched down and brought a finger closer to Danny's abdomen. "That can't be right..." He muttered, eyebrows furrowed.

Before Vlad could touch him or finish his statement, Danny started getting hysteric. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" He shouted, panic showing in his green orbs.

Vlad quickly lowered his hand with a scowl. "I'm just trying to help you!"

"News flash, Vlad: sharp objects help no one."

"I was bluffing!"

"It didn't seem like it! Now let me go!" Danny snarled, eyes narrowing dangerously.

Vlad clenched his fists. "Danny," he tried, and Danny blinked at his preferred name, "I want to help you."

There was a moment of silence in which the two stared each other down. Finally Danny scowled. "Then let me go."

Vlad didn't move for a moment, honestly considering as he regarded the younger halfa in front of him. Then he pressed a button on the side of the lab table, and the cuffs popped open. Danny stared at the man as he slowly sat up with the support of his hands. He rubbed his wrists, eyeing the man as he tried to rid himself of the soreness being chained had brought on. Then he shook his head in wonder, not knowing what to make of the odd situation he was in, and flew out of the darkness without another word.

He couldn't see as he left, but Vlad looked just as surprised as him.

When Danny got home, he was beat. His vision was blurring and he trembled. He turned back into his human form as he launched himself through the window before collapsing in a heap on the ground. His stomach was having a grand time punching everything it could, while Danny curled in on himself.

He was able to make it to his bed before he literaly fainted from the pain.

His last thoughts were musings on how strange his encounter with Vlad was... And how sucky this week was turning out.

**Okay, so hopefully this chapter seemed longer than the others. **

**This one was mainly just a filler. More action coming up, I promise.**

**I'd really appreciate some critique and thought from you guys on how this turned out.**

**I'm going to try to update more after exams. No promises, but reviews give me motivation. ;) **

**Thanks for reading!**

**hopeistheway**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Hey guys. All I really have to say about this chapter was that it was evil and did not want to be written. It's not as long as I hoped it would be... oh well._**

_**As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed. They keep me inspired to write more. Seriously, you guys rock. Thank you so much.**_

_**I own nothing.**_

Danny opened his eyes.

For several moments, he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was _so _not looking forward to another day of dealing with… whatever was wrong with him.

He thought, long and hard, about what was happening. His stomach was killing him. He couldn't ask for help for obvious reasons. He was getting worse. He wasn't healing. He didn't know if whatever was happening to him was caused by a ghost. He didn't know if it was a weird ghost disease. … However, with his weird symptoms, he wasn't going to cross that off the list. But so far, things hadn't escalated to phantom-like symptoms- he hadn't lost control of his powers or anything- so he was just letting that thought settle in the back of his mind.

And to his experience, his ghost powers strengthened his body against human viruses. He rarely got sick anymore, and when he did, it was usually due to stress. He had a pretty strong immune system. One of the perks of being a halfa, he supposed.

So… what the heck was this?

Just then, his phone rang. He startled at the noise before reaching out a hand to grab the item.

"Hello?" He asked rather sulkily.

"_Danny_? _Hey, it's Sam. How you feeling?"_

Danny refused to groan. Instead, he dramatically flopped his head into the pillow. A muffled "_peachy"_ went through the line.

"_Uh huh. Well- anyways, we were wondering, that is, if you're feeling any better, if you could drop by Tucker's house?"_

Danny raised his head off the pillow and turned his head to the side questioningly. "Why do you ask?"

"_Tucker's mom heard you could use a pick-me-up. She's making double-fudge-brownies."_

Danny almost, _almost_ shot out of bed. He did not follow through with this action for two reasons. One was, for once, was he being careful to avoid further pain. Two, he remembered the last time he ate, things didn't exactly go according to plan.

He breathed out through his teeth. "Hang on," he said.

Gingerly, he pushed himself off the bed, teeth grit together and eyes squeezed shut, expecting the familiar punch in the gut feeling.

Nothing.

He blinked. He slowly stepped out of bed, swallowing as he braced himself again.

Nothing.

He furrowed his brows together and his mouth curved downwards. After last night, he didn't trust himself. His stomach had felt fine at first, but then, well, look how that turned out.

But…

He felt as though he could actually hold food down this time. And that maybe he could make it through this day. Of course, he was still worried, but…

Danny narrowed his eyes.

_Do it for the fudge, Danny. Do it for the fudge._

"_Danny? You still there?"_

"Oh- yeah! Yeah. Uh… I'm feeling better, actually. I think I can make it."

"_Sweet! See you in ten?"_

"Three if Dad drives." He joked.

"_You're not funny."_ Sam reminded him, and hung up.

Danny dressed himself, brushed his teeth and washed his face, attempted to make his bed (he tossed the blanket onto the bed, that counted for something, right?) and headed downstairs. He really was trying to contain his excitement at getting out of the house and having fun, he really was! … But could anyone _really _blame him for sliding down the banister?

"Daniel James Fenton!"

Well, his mother apparently could.

"What are you doing up and about? You should be in bed!" She scolded, coming out of the kitchen.

She grabbed his face, turning it this way and that. "You're still a bit warm!" She accused.

"I feel fine!" He protested.

She narrowed her eyes at him. Danny wriggled out of her grip and pecked her on the cheek. "I'm going over to Tuck's." He said as he wormed away.

She placed her hands on her hips as she watched him dash to the front door. "I certainly hope that if since you are well enough to go see your friend that you have all your homework done!"

"Bye, mom!" He said quickly as he shut the front door.

"_Danny!"_ He heard from inside the house.

"It's _done!_" He finally yelled back as he ran down the sidewalk. "Bye!"

Danny raced down the street, adrenaline pumping. This was the best he'd felt all week. He was _certain_ he was finally getting better!

Danny forced himself to slow down, knowing he shouldn't push his luck. Within minutes, he arrived at Tucker's house.

With a cheery little _ding-dong! _the doorbell rang. Danny beamed as the door opened.

"Hey there, Danny!" Tucker's mother greeted. "Sam and Tucker are already set up in the kitchen. You come right on in and join them." She ushered him inside affectionately.

She guided him to the kitchen before departing to go upstairs. When Danny stepped in, he was greeted by the sight of Sam very purposefully dumping a sack of flour on Tucker's head.

"Hey Danny," Sam greeted as she dusted off her hands.

Tucker coughed. White powder flew out of his mouth and nose.

Danny chose to ignore this. "Hey guys. How's the fudge going?"

Tucker shook his head rapidly, sending flour flying. Sam tactfully stepped out of range. "It _was_ going well until _someone _got angry and dumped a truckload of flour on my head!"

"Hey- you started it! You threw an egg at me!" Sam accused.

"No I didn't! And, it was an egg_shell, and_ I was aiming for the sink!"

"Then you have _terrible _aim! You got goop on my shoulder!"  
>"You should have dodged!"<p>

Sam picked up a rolling pin. "You wanna go?"

Tucker picked up the electrical beater. "Bring it on!"

"Guys!" Danny quickly cut in. "Focus!"

Sam and Tucker reluctantly stopped glaring at each other to look at Danny.

"Guys," Danny said again, "Focus. Do it… for the fudge."

There was a moment of silence. Then Sam dipped her hand in the batter and flung a glob of it at Danny.

Very quickly, the kitchen erupted into a full-out war zone.

Turns out, with the help of ghost powers, cleaning up the aftermath of the battle was easier than one would originally think. Still, Danny found it hilarious that Sam couldn't get all the brownie batter out of her hair. They manage to scavenge up some batter and put the fudge-brownies in the oven; in exactly fourty-five minutes they were baked to perfection. Fifteen minutes after that, all twenty-four brownies were gone, and three teenagers lay groaning on the living room floor.

"Oh _man._" Tucker groaned.

"I can't believe I ate _six brownies." _Sam moaned, running a hand over her face.

"I'll never eat fudge again as long as I live." Danny vowed, curled up into a ball of pain.

"Turn on the TV," Sam begged, "I need something to distract me."

The trio tiredly looked over to the coffee table in the center of the room where the remote lay. It was about three feet away from Danny.

"Dude," Tucker said, "You're closest."

"Yeah, but," Danny grinned at his friend, "I was sick, and therefore shouldn't move."

"Go get it, nerd." Sam agreed.

"... No fair!" Tucker whined. "Sam, you get it!"

"I'm a girl. You get it," she said, as though she was excused.

"You're the one who's all about equality and feminism and save the humpbacks-"

"Just get it, man-"

"And you're closer-"

"Just get it!"

"Fine!" Tucker finally snapped. "Fine. But I'm not getting up." He said crossly again, beginning to slowly roll over to the remote.

"... Tucker, what are you doing?"

All three teens glanced up and saw Ms. Foley standing in the living room doorway looking mildly disturbed.

"Uh," Sam and Danny said.

"Mom!" Tucker said in relief. "Can you grab the remote?"

Tucker's mother stared at him for a moment, and how he was now only two feet away from the item he wanted. Then she slowly raised a delicate brow. "You're ridiculous. Get it yourself." She scoffed, before turning and going to the kitchen. "And then, clean up the table!" She called out.

Tucker whined and rolled a bit more before he reached and grabbed the remote. Sam and Danny cheered. Tucker tiredly turned and clicked the remote; the television blared to life.

The three were sitting while watching a random horror movie when Danny began to feel strange. He frowned and shifted uncomfortably. Sam glanced over to him quizzically. He waved her off and they went back to watching the movie. A few minutes later, a stabbing pain had him doubled over, blinking in muted shock.

"Danny?" Tucker asked. "You okay?"

"Uhrm," Danny said, "Fudge. No more."

Sam frowned and slided over to him. "You sure it's the fudge?"

Danny nodded and tried to sit back up. That was a mistake. The stabbing, shooting, burning sensation came back a fury, he gasped and then hissed out through his teeth in pain.

Tucker came over by his side. "You're still sick, aren't you?" He accused.

"I felt better this morning!" Danny hissed out, before scrunching his eyes closes and muttering a few choice words in pain.

"Danny, you should have stayed home!" Sam groaned. "Now you're just going to get worse!"

"Guys," Danny said angrily, patience snapping as the pain increased dramatically, "I'm _fine!_" And with that, he quickly pushed himself up.

Pain _exploded_ in his abdomen. The earlier stabs were _nothing _compared to this. This was _torture_. He saw stars and couldn't breathe for a moment. For a moment the only thing that existed was the agony.

When he was able to get a grip on reality once again, Tucker was shouting for his mom and Sam was squeezing his hand so hard he couldn't feel it anymore. The world became a blur of colors and noise. He wasn't sure what exactly happened, but suddenly he was being dragged to Mrs. Foley's car. Danny couldn't seem to get in enough air; he came to the conclusion that the pain was becoming just a _little bit _unbearable. He felt every jolt and bump as the car moved; he curled in on himself and tried to hold still as they sped through town. Tucker's mother was talking non-stop on the phone. He realized about ten minutes in the car ride what was happening. "Wait!" He panicked, "We _can't_ go to the Hospital!"

And Tucker suddenly snapped, "The _hell _we aren't!"

Danny was so surprised at his friend's reaction he actually stopped talking.

Sam was panicking. "We _have to,_" She said, running a hand through her hair nervously, "But I don't know what they're going to do when they- you know-" She said, lowering her voice to a hiss.

They hit a particularly large bump, and Danny blacked out for several moments. When he awoke, he was being carried out of the car while several people in white were swarming towards him. He was being carried to a stretcher.

Danny hadn't felt this scared in a very long time. This was something out of his nightmares. His heartbeat spiked in fear as he saw the doctors swarming around him and he was strapped down, too weak to stop them. He had a horrible, vivid vision of being cut into and vivisected.

He tried to shake it off, but the anxiety and panic stayed. "_I swear to god,_" he screamed, but it was more of a garbled choke, "_I'll never eat fudge again!_"

The doctors didn't even pause; he was wheeled at top speed into the hospital, through white hallway after hallway, while blackness closed around his vision and his heartbeat thumped loudly in his ears. Sam and Tucker were trying to keep up, but were abruptly stopped when he was pushed in through two giant swinging doors. A mask was pressed over his nose and mouth; Danny immediately felt the blackness around the edges of his vision intensify, and he weakly tried to shake it off. He heaved in another uncontrolled breath, and in some ways, it was a relief when he finally passed out.

_**I am **__**so**__** evil. **_

_**Tell me what you thought of this chapter in the reviews! Thanks for reading. More coming up.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N:_**

**_OHMYGODYOUGUYS IF WE MAKE IT TO ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS I WILL CRY AND THEN POSSIBLY EXPLODE INTO RAINBOWS AND SUNSHINE AND HAPPINESS ;_;_**

**_You guys are all so amazing and I love you so much._**

**_Thanks for reading!_**

**_*edit: I changed the doctor's character a bit after being pointed out that his behavior could be offensive. I'd like to apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable with his flippant behavior, and for being insensitive.*_**

**_*another edit: I thought I submitted the edited chapter. I was proven incorrect. Oops. Well, now it's uploaded and finally the offensive content is gone. Sorry!*_**

**_..._**

Tucker was pacing. And twitching. And sweating. And nearly having a panic attack. "Oh my god," he chanted under his breath. "We are so, so, so dead."

Sam was getting slightly annoyed at the boy's reaction to everything, but she couldn't blame him; she was freaking out herself... But at a slightly more controlled scale.

Okay. So, this was pretty freaking bad. Danny was in the ER, under the knife, getting hacked away as the doctors did their job. She still had no idea what the heck was going on. Things weren't looking so good last she saw Danny, and he seemed pretty out of it. He had been in a _lot _of pain. And now he was in the hospital, getting- had she forgotten to mention?- _hacked away_ by some freaky doctors.

Not to mention everyone's biggest fear: she was pretty sure the doctors would want to know why Danny's blood was full of ectoplasm. Among other things.

"Oh my god!" Tucker moaned again, "we are _so _dead!"

"Shut it, Tuck!" Sam finally snapped.

Tucker tugged anxiously on his hat. "I'm sorry, okay? It's just- Danny- and, we- this is a hospital- I don't _do _hospitals-"

Sam sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know, phobia of hospitals, whatever. Just- just take a seat." She waved her hand towards the chair next to her.

They were in the waiting room. It had been several hours since Danny had been wheeled away. Tucker's mother had been on the phone with emergency services immediately after Danny blacked out. Once Danny was inside she called his parents to inform them of the situation; Sam didn't think that it was possible to drive across town in four minutes, but Mr. Fenton proved her wrong that day. She thought this was a new record for the amount of traffic laws he had broken. He deserved a medal.

The Fentons arrived very quickly, and after Mrs. Fenton stopped screaming at the nurses demanding to see her child, she sourly sat down next to her husband and fumed. She was now looking at a magazine, but Sam could see her eyes hadn't moved and she still had yet to turn the page. Jazz had yet to make an appearance, and Mr. Fenton was looking a little lost. Sam didn't think she'd ever seen the man look so helpless in her life, and it was like a punch the stomach.

She abruptly stood up, announcing that she needed air. She threw open the double doors and walked quickly out into the hallway.

She wanted to kick something. Or throw something. Or even better, throw some_one_ out of a window. She eyed a particularly evil-looking doctor before shaking off the urge. The doctor walked out of the hallway, and suddenly Sam was alone.

Sam stood in the center of the hallway, looking blankly ahead at all the white around her. The walls were white. The floors were white. The doors were white. The lights were a fluorescent _white. _It was suffocating, really.

Sam swallowed. She really didn't like this artificial look. It made her want to puke. Hey, then at least there'd be some color.

She was abruptly startled by a sudden wet feeling on her nose. She blinked in surprise, which caused more wetness to fall upon her face. She sniffed, before she scowled. Okay, there was no freaking way she was crying. There was _no, freaking, way. _

Sam was getting angry at herself because more tears kept dripping down her face. She angrily scrubbed them away, breath hitching. She wasn't crying. There wasn't a reason for her to cry. She didn't cry. Danny was going to be fine, he had gotten through _much _worse than this. She was just nervous because the doctors might find out about the secret, that was it. Okay, so maybe she was a little nervous that one day Danny might _not_ be fine, and there would be nothing and no one that could save him, but hey, everyone has crazy fears. She had no reason to be crying. _Samantha Manson didn't cry._

So she simply stood in the white hallway, alone.

And she definitely _didn't cry._

_..._

Jazz was freaking out, which was the understatement of the century. Because when Jazz freaked out, Jazz _freaked out. _She'd tug her hair until strands fell out, bite her nails until there weren't any nails left to bite, mutter to herself, and overall just turned into a complete nervous wreck. Of course, the one time she was supposed to be out and having fun with her friends would be the one time Danny got himself hurt and had to go to the hospital. Of course.

She roughly jerked the wheel, pulling into the hospital parking lot. The drive back from her friend's summer house (big party, don't ask) was over three hours away, but she made it to the hospital in two. Her parents hadn't called until they had actually gotten to the hospital themselves, which was why she was running late. Of course she was initially ticked off at the news being withheld from her, but she understood that everyone was frazzled with the days events, so she decided that holding a grudge wouldn't help anyone.

Jazz stepped out of her car, trying not to stumble over her own feet as she quickly walked (read: sprinted) through the parking lot. Of course, the only available parking would be at the very end of the lot. The world just seemed against her today.

Just as she walked through the automatic doors and got that unpleasant antiseptic stench up her nose, she was almost knocked over by Tucker. She staggered for a moment as Tucker helped her up, apologizing profusely. "-sorry, I didn't even see you-"

"It's fine," Jazz quickly cut in, straightening. "Where is everyone?"

Tucker quickly led her through the hospital into the waiting room, where her parents were all sitting and looking extremely uncomfortable on the plastic chairs. They brightened at the sight of her. "Jazz," her mother greeted with a relieved smile.

Jazz was a bit too frantic to really greet her back. "How's Danny?" She immediately asked.

Her parents moods soured. "The doctors aren't telling us anything." Maddie said bitterly.

Jack narrowed his eyes at the white doors that led to the ER. "They're all idiots."

"Jack." Maddie chided without any heat.

Jazz promptly ignored the exchange; she tuned out her mother after receiving the news about Danny (or lack of). She frowned as her eyes scoured the room before asking, "Where's Sam?"

Tucker glanced at her. Maddie stretched before sighing. "She said she needed air."

Which Jazz translated to "She needed to have a private meltdown."

"Yeah," Tucker spoke up, "I was looking for her when I ran into you. We haven't seen her in, like, an hour."

"... Oh," Jazz said, before she slowly added, "... I'll go find her."

Tucker looked relieved. "Okay. Yeah. Thanks."

Jazz left the room.

...

It took Jazz a while to find her friend. About half an hour. The endless white halls were dizzying and confusing.

The goth girl was in one of the many bathrooms that loitered the building. Jazz pushed through the doors and found the girl blowing her nose heavily into a tissue before she glared at her reflection. Jazz coughed to announce her arrival, and Sam's head snapped around so fast it was comical. Jazz walked over to her, taking in her red complexion and bloodshot eyes. Sam seemed waiting for criticism if the defiant glare said anything. Instead, Jazz tilted her head. "Well, it looks like I'm not the only one freaking out."

Sam let out a surprised snort at that. "You should have seen Tucker earlier." She said, voice coming out stuffy.

Sam gazed at her slightly smudged mascara in the mirror with obvious distaste. She reached for another tissue from the box on the counter, but Jazz slid eye makeup remover across to her before she could grab one. She grudgingly took it and started to dab at her eyes with a cotton ball (also courtesy of Jazz).

"So..." Jazz said, leaning on the counter.

"So..." Sam echoed, voice still stuffy.

"So. We're pretty much screwed." Jazz acknowledged.

"Pretty much," Sam agreed with a sigh.

"Do we have a plan?"

Sam rubbed her eyes. "Nope."

There was a beat of silence.

"Okay." Jazz said.

Sam handed back the makeup remover. Jazz put it back into her purse. "How's Danny?" Jazz asked.

Sam shook her head. "I don't know. He's been through worse though. I'm just worried about what'll happen after. Not to mention, Tucker's still convinced he's going through labor."

Jazz slowly nodded. "... Oh. Okay."

"Don't ask." Sam sighed. "Seriously though, wish we knew what was going on."

"Me too." Jazz confessed quietly, staring at a spot on the wall.

Sam stared at another spot before she bumped Jazz's elbow. "Yeah, too much emotion for one day, how about _no_."

Jazz let out a surprised laugh before straightening. "Let's get out of here," she said, knowing they needed a break from the hospital, "You up for ice cream?"

Sam raised a brow. "Seriously? You want to eat our feelings? Isn't that against... Well, everything you stand for?"

Jazz shot Sam an irritated look. "My brother is in the hospital. I just drove for two hours. I am hungry. I am upset. And I am _getting_ ice cream. And if you try to stop me I can promise you that tomorrow morning you will wake up in a ditch somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin."

Sam blinked in surprise for a moment, before quickly pursuing the girl. Danny getting hurt had everyone's emotions out of whack, but if it got her free ice cream, she wasn't complaining.

...

It was beginning to darken when Sam and Jazz walked back into the waiting room feeling rather stuffed and slightly giddy. Their moods immediately plummeted, however, when caught sight of a new guest in the waiting room.

"_Vlad_." Jazz quietly spat.

The man was consoling- well, he was trying, anyways- Mrs. Fenton, who looked slightly uncomfortable at the man's fawning. On the opposite end of the room, Tucker was scowling as he very deliberately looked away. Mr. Fenton, on the other hand, was eating it up. "You don't know that half of it, Vladdie." Jack confided, "they won't tell us _anything."_

"I'm sure they have their reasons, Jack." Vlad said shortly, eyes still on Maddie.

Sam and Jazz glanced at each other. When they looked back to the scene in front of them, they were suddenly the subject of four stares. "Ah, girls, you're back," Maddie said, using the opportunity to squirm away from Vlad. "Is everything alright?" She asked, concern written all over her face.

"Yeah." Sam said, eyes straying from Vlad to Maddie. "We got ice cream."

"And _you_ got a cheesehead." Jazz grumbled.

"Jazz!" Maddie hissed.

Jazz shrugged in response with a lazy look that clearly said _I'll-say-what-I-want-about-that-pig_, and Sam felt a swell of pride.

"Maddie, is everything alright?" A sickeningly sweet voice called from across the room.

Maddie glanced at the girls with an exasperated look on her face before she turned and replied with equal sweetness, "Oh, yes, Vlad, just having a little girl talk."

Sam and Jazz- and Tucker, on the other side of the room- all gagged. Jack, as always, remained blissfully unaware.

Maddie walked away to the two men in the room while Tucker took her place. "Still no news." He reported.

Jazz gestured for them to talk out in the hall, away from any eavesdroppers-cough-Vlad-cough.

"I never asked- how bad was he before he came in?" Jazz asked once they were a safe distance away.

Sam and Tucker glanced at each other. "Not really good," Tucker said carefully, "but it seemed off and on."

Jazz frowned. "What do you mean?"

Sam ran a hand through her hair. "He acted like-"

"-like he was pregnant! And there was a baby kicking him!" Tucker quickly blurted.

Sam and Jazz slowly turned to look at the boy. "Tucker," Sam finally said, "Just... _Don't. _Just_. Stop." _

"I promise, it really looked like-"

"Tucker. You have _got_ to stop reading FanFiction. It's not healthy." Sam said seriously.

Tucker blushed, but he looked offended. "It's giving underappreciated, unpublished authors a chance-"

"-_Anyways," _Jazz quickly cut in, "I'm guessing you mean he was- what, puking, moaning, that kind of stuff?"

"Yeah, but, well, Danny doesn't like to admit when he's in pain, so no moaning." Sam confirmed. "He wouldn't eat and he had stomach aches."

Jazz frowned. "Okay. So, do you guys have any ideas as to _why_ this happened?"

Tucker opened his mouth. Sam slapped the back of his head, and he quickly closed it.

Sam rolled her eyes at her friend before turning back to Jazz. "He said it might be because of a ghost or something, but I don't know. He didn't remember anything weird happening."

"... Huh." Jazz said. "That's weird,"

"You're telling me." Sam huffed.

Tucker wisely chose to remain silent.

Jazz glanced around. "Now- is anyone going to tell me why the heck Vlad is here?"

Sam glared at Tucker. Tucker quickly raised his hands in innocence. "I don't know! Probably just trying to get Mrs. Fenton to cry on his shoulder." He finished with a disgusted look on his face.

"That man's head is a bag full of cats." Sam grumbled.

The two teens in front of her nodded in mutual agreement.

The three teens suddenly heard pounding footsteps coming near them; they turned and saw Jack racing their way, gasping. "The- the, uh," he panted when he reached them, "doctor finally came, said, got news-"

They raced back into the waiting room.

...

They reached the room and were greeted by Maddie, Vlad, and some doctor whose name they could honestly care less about. "News?" Jazz quickly asked.

"Yes, well," the doctor said, unphased, "Now that everyone is here, I'll skip the dramatics and tell it to you straight."

"Then get to it." Sam snapped.

The doctor frowned, eyebrows knit together as though he was used to this. He ignored the interruption and spoke. "Daniel has had a severe case of appendicitis. Unfortunately it ruptured-"

"Wait, _what?" _Tucker spluttered.

"Are you _kidding me?" _Sam snapped in disbelief.

"... You're serious?" Vlad muttered under his breath.

"Yes, I am a doctor, I hardly kid." The man said dryly, before ploughing on. "As I was saying, Daniel has ruptured his appendix. We are currently- well, to put it lightly, cleaning up the mess left behind, and trying to fight infection. Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't come in earlier, with all the pain appendicitis causes." The doctor noted. "Then again, I've met stubborner patients."

There was a beat of silence.

"Wait- so- you're- you're not joking. He really _just_ ruptured his appendix." Sam said, a weird sense of relief filling her.

The doctor looked a bit surprised at her statement as he responded. "Well, I would hardly say he "just" ruptured his appendix; appendicitis should not be taken lightly. Sometimes the infection can overwhelm the patient, causing death. But yes_, _that's "all" that's happened. Like I said, I hardly ever joke. Anyways, Daniel should be fine. Our main concern, once again, is infection. He's already on antibiotics. I'll give you an update in a few hours."

"And, uh," Tucker said nervously, "That's it? Nothing, uh, else?"

The doctor still seemed a bit confused by their almost _flippant_ behavior towards the diagnosis, but he offered a small smile. "No, there is nothing else wrong with him. If he remains strong against his fight with the infection, Daniel should be just fine."

The doctor then turned to the exhausted looking Maddie and Jack. "All he needs is time and rest. Like I said, I'll give you an update shortly." The doctor smiled kindly before vanishing behind the double doors.

...

Danny was in oblivion.

Darkness swirled around him. It was...Weird. He felt disjointed from reality, like he was hidden inside the protective, curling depths of his own mind.

Okay, that was going a little bit too deep for Danny's taste (enter C average student), and so he decided to just ignore the whole thinking part of unconsciousness and try to piece together what was going on. Memories lazily passed through his mind until he remembered being pushed through the hospital doors. Oh, yeah, Danny remembered, someone set off, like, a _nuke_ in my stomach, and now the doctors saw all my ectoplasm blood stuff, and are _probably_ vivisecting me.

Danny felt as though he should be a bit alarmed at that, but he was too busy wondering why he felt so tingly.

_Oh_, he was probably doped up on drugs. Heh. _Doped_. That's a fun word.

Oh, wait, he was supposed to be focusing. Focussing. Foooccuuuussssinnnngggggg. FoooOOOcccCCuuUUUuuSsSsIIIiiiiiNNNNnnnnnnnNGgggGgggGg...

_Crap- FOCUS!_ Danny snapped at himself. A sliver of clarity came to his hazy mind, and he grasped onto it.

Okay, now what? How was he gonna get out of this? The doctors were definitely going to find out he wasn't completely human. The only thing he could do when he awoke- if he awoke?- was get the heck out of wherever he awoke. A spike of panic prodded his mind; he was going to have to leave Amity Park behind. He was going to have to go on the run. He'd never be able to see his loved ones again; the risk would be too high. The government would want to use them against him, because- face it- when his halfa status got out, there was no way they would leave him alone. The Guys In White were already on his tail, so when they actually sent _competent _men, he would be doomed. And his parents… once they found out he was half ghost, they would never look at him with love in their eyes again. There would be only murderous hate.

Danny's mood quickly soured. He was _so_ not wanting to deal with the aftermath of all- this. This... Stuff. The, um, stuff, that he was dealing with, the stuff that was always, uh, being annoying... And stuff…

… The drugs were kicking in again...

... What was he thinking about again?

... ?

Danny decided to just sink back into oblivion for a while and let things, uh, obliviate. Was that a word? That sounded like a spell. Like, a Harry Potter spell. The forgetting one. Maybe. Uh. He forgot. Danny found that hilarious, and he mentally cracked up as he sunk back into the blackness of his mind.

...

**_A/N:_**

**_Two things: _**

**_One: Writing Drugged!Danny will forever be the most fun passtime in the history of ever._**

**_Two: Please. Please. Please. Do not kill me. Because yeah, YEAH HAHAHA IT WAS APPENDICITIS_**

**_Reason? This fic was a request for a friend of mine, DeliciousKrabKakes, who had appendicitis... Years ago, I started this for her, but it took so long to write and then rewrite and find inspiration to continue I'm not even sure if she reads it anymore. Oh well! _**

**_So, next time: what's up with the doctors not knowing, or pretending not to know, about Danny's blood? Will Vlad ever stop creeping on Maddie? And, most importantly, will Danny doped up on drugs ever not be perfect?_**

**_Stay tuned._**

**_hopeistheway_**


End file.
